Some thoughts on the house on 10th Avenue.
Should FYA consider acquiring this property to serve as an office for Clearwater Counseling? Or for some other reason? Please share your thoughts, these are mine….
Pros…
- Proximity: It integrates the location with FYA more functionally and geographically.
- Space: If another counselor (or more) are added to CC, then another space will soon be required
- Augmentation: I think it provokes a move toward the post-shelter assistance of family reunification and integrated counseling for youth and families that are open to it. This is not Dave’s specialty but he is considering bringing on another staff to work in this area. In the long run, this may or may not increase revenue depending on the clientele and profitability.
- Asset: Current rent for CC is $700/month. For a $100,000 purchase price, a 10 year mortgage at 5% interest rate with 15% down is a $900/mo payment (exclusive of taxes and insurance). That means it costs $2400 a year more plus insurance and taxes than the current office. This is predicated on the long term business plan for CC. It is currently the profit arm of FYA contributing from 20-35K a year to the agency.
- If Patrick had and extra $110K, he would by the house, bulldoze it, and make a green space with trees and open areas that would give to the exterior of the building what Dave Miller is wanting to give to it’s interior. Sorry, I don’t have a spare $110K
Questions?
- I have not even seen the inside of the house to know if it is even suitable or if requires a significant amount of money to renovate and make appropriate.
- Is it mission drift? Not in my opinion
- Is it an additional expense we want to incur? It is not a huge one, but it will effect the bottom line a little bit.
I would be willing to help Dave with accessing the buildings condition if it hasn’t been done already.
Great job everyone! Your all amazing.
This seems like a worthwhile investment. When do we need to decide whether or not to buy the property?
What I found out on Friday about the property.
Ray Brasier of ReMax is the broker.
They are asking $108,000
It is a small duplex about 1,000 sq ft. A 1 bedroom upstairs and an efficiency down stairs.
Told Ray we may discuss it earlier but we meet on the 10th and would get back to him after that one way or another. I Did not say who we were.
As I noted below, I would like to pass the lead on this to another board member. Patrick e-mailed that Dave Miller has offered to work on this perhaps with Danny. Once we decide on a FYA point of contact/team leader, I can call the broker and pass the torch. $108,000 is a lot of money for a parking lot or a green space. I would like to explore possible uses of the building first. The philanthropist Sarah mentions is Dennis Wise.
e-mail note I sent this morning.
Patrick’s post presents a lot of issues to think through before deciding to purchase.
However, we should probably take a look at the place before we put more effort into it.
For some reason I am a little busy until mid month. Also I am out of town this Thursday & Friday
Since I initiated contact with the broker, I should probably make an appointment with him to see the place. But I would like to hand it off to someone more qualified as our lead person. Danny, would you be interested? Perhaps a team with Danny or another board member as the team leader.
Financial discussion e-mail on Saturday
Danny asked about our financial position. See the attached.
• We already owe a note payable for $72,500. We must begin making payments on the note 12/5/2016.
• We will have about $15,000 left in checking after the end of month payroll and payroll tax payments. (Clearwater Counseling has already deposited the reimbursement for Dave’s end of month paycheck.)
• We have grant and greater giving receivables of $7,849 and I estimate we can invoice AHFC for about $7,734 for March.
• Our total operating costs are around $13,000 per month of which the AHFC grant reimburses us about $8,000. We need about $5,000 a month from other sources to keep operating.
• Given the reimbursable nature of our major fund source, I would like to maintain enough cash in our checking account to cover at least one month’s expenses.
• My gut feeling is that any down payment to purchase the house would need to come from Clearwater Counseling. I don’t have that information currently. Marylee did say that a large transfer was going to be made shortly.
• If we build a good sell, this might also be a good fundraising opportunity.
Parking is a valid concern. Dave B and I see lots of potential and positives regarding this potential acquisition. Right now the counseling office CC is in is not at all accessible to people with physical disabilities and 50% of his clients are military presently. It is also not so accessible to shelter, though just a short drive away. We will have a need for some private meeting space (staff, family, youth-parent – board).
It sounds like it’s worth looking into…We’d have to weigh the cost, though. So many possibilities: parking, outdoor space, office space. But are we financially stable enough to go for it? Is Clearwater Counseling financially stable enough?
What about big funding-type organizations and/or philanthropist-types…do you think an “investor” might be interested in helping us buy it? I’m thinking of the guy who helped with the Food Bank & IAC buildings…can’t think of his name at the moment, but I think Marylee will know who I’m talking about.
I believe that owning the adjacent property would be a real plus for FYA. I also don’t have 110K to help with this. Finding out the condition of the property would be the first step….I am in Fairbanks now and I would be happy to help with this. I think one of our big struggles on this street will be parking…..we should consider how this issue is addressed with the possible acquisition of another home.
Dave,
I too think that is step number one. If you can gather some information on the house that would be excellent.
Patrick